Have you ever noticed how almost everywhere you shop you will find women’s underwear under a sign or drop-down menu that reads “panties”?  It happens to be one of those terms that you either love or hate and that has drawn a considerable amount of attention in the past decade about its appropriateness regarding a grown women’s underwear.

In some instances, the term has been coined too childish by both men and women alike, making the use of it regarding a grown woman’s underwear a distasteful and even appalling term for many to hear.

And then there are those of us who find it to be a sexy, flirty, or cute term compared to the alternatives of underwear or undergarments.

With so much talk going on about the use and modesty of the word, one can only wonder why exactly women’s underwear are called panties in the first place.

Why Are Women’s Underwear Called Panties?

There is a surprising amount of history behind the origin of the word panties and how it came to refer to both children’s and women’s underwear.

Where Does the Word Panties Derive From? 

According to Merriam-Webster.com, the word panties actually owes its existence to a comedic fictional character from the mid-eighteenth-century Italian theater. This character’s name was Pantalone, and his iconic long trousers made it so that when similar trousers became popular, they were called pantaloons.

By the nineteenth century, the word pantaloons was shortened to pants, with the term catching on in America more so than anywhere else. As time went on, the term began being used to refer to all types of trousers rather than just the one style.

As undergarments became more popular further clothing was added to one’s daily attire. Needless to say, the terms underpants and panties were used to reference the garments that were worn beneath the pants, with the addition of the -ies being the diminutive of pants.

The -ie at the end of the word implies that the word panties means small or tiny pants. At this point, it is not hard to see why women’s and children’s underwear were referred to as panties over underpants.    

Is the Word Panties Too Childish or Too Sexy?

That really depends on how the word makes you feel as an individual.

When you think about the origin of the word or the evolution of pants into panties, panties sounds neither too sexy nor too childish. In fact, panties, or underpants for women in the nineteenth century were nearly knee-length and far from sexy.

In fact, women’s underpants did not shorten in length until women’s fashion changed and shorter skirts became all the rage.

Where Does the Word Panties Get its Sexual Connotation From?

Funnily enough, one of the functions of women’s panties was to act as a chastity device. That is not to say that it was not meant to provide some more reasonable functions like keeping the area clean, but yes, that dainty piece of cloth was also meant to act as an actual deterrence against handsy men.

Unfortunately, the proximity of the garment to a woman’s sexual body part made it so that wearing a pair of panties was viewed more so as an alluring and eye-catching garment, a scandalous piece of clothing. It soon became viewed as immodest for a woman to wear them because of the attention it drew when it just so happened to be glimpsed.

Not to mention that with burlesque shows gaining in popularity in the late 1800s, this view was only reinforced. So, although it was meant to act as a chastity device, it instead brought more attention to a woman’s nether regions. As a result, it was worn more so by children than by grown women. 

Where Does the Word Panties Get its Childish Connotation From?

Besides being worn more so by children, the term panties are also linked to children due to its first known use of the word having been in 1908 inside a set of instructions on how to make a children’s doll.

Its spelling has also drawn criticism regarding the word being too childish due to the addition of the -ies. The suffix is viewed by many as closely associated with baby or toddler talk when added to the end of a word.

Truth be told, however, the term panties is often used in the plural because of the way panties were originally made. A pair of panties was exactly that, a pair. Women slipped their legs into individual leg pieces and tied their underpants together at the waist.

Just like a pair of shoes, panties were a set, hence the -ies.

Modern Panties

Panties have come a long way since the late 1800s and are now a staple part of every woman’s wardrobe. The stigma of immodesty eventually wore off and panties became more of a fashion tool with an array of styles, fabrics, and cuts to choose from.

They have even begun to shift more towards functionality with the introduction of period absorbent underwear. So, although panties have had quite an array of alluring styles, textures, and cuts, panties are not always intended for aesthetic or sexual appeal but for more functional and mature purposes.

Moral of the Story…

The word panties was not necessarily coined with the implicit intention of being cute or overly sexual, just small. Nor were panties made to promote promiscuous behaviors. So, whether or not using the term panties makes you feel childish or sexy will be entirely dependent on you.   

I mean, let’s face it, besides the term lingerie, the other options available are not the most appealing so who can blame those of us who find the term more sexual than childish.

Whether the word panties make you feel sexy or skeevy is really up to individual interpretation, with its original intentions having already been misconstrued and having continuously changed over time.

So, call your underwear whatever makes you feel sexy, or cute, or whatever mood you are feeling, or whatever style it is you're aiming for, it’s really about how it makes you feel when you slip into them and less about the word itself.